With her stick-figure legs splaying every which way yet still suggesting a dancer's grace, with her belty voice and her game goofiness, Sutton Foster is the focal point of this new-but-feels-like-a-revival tuner, which initially plods like a watchable flop and then, after a couple of strong sequences and silly-funny surprises, turns into an audience-pleasing hit.
Harriet Harris offers hilarious (though ethnically questionable) support as an evil white slave trader disguised as the velly Chinee proprietress of the Hotel Priscilla, Gavin Creel is a polished pro as ne'er-do-well Jimmy, and Marc Kudisch turns the seemingly thankless role of Millie's uptight boss into a delicious comical cartoon.
Apart from a musical phrase here and there, the songs aren't memorable, and the garishly tinted New York set is more lurid than luxe, but the steady laughs and the talent onstage at the Marquis contribute to a thoroughly madcap evening of fun.
